David Yudkin
Footballguy
I understand that not every player will get voted in. And I understand that some of the voters hold some bizarre beliefs. And I know that there are ramifications to the whole steroid issue. I don't care about those, and I don't really care (in this case) who makes it or not. What I care about is the logic (or lack of it) in voting patterns.
As many people know, I am an advocate for Jim Rice's induction into the baseball HOF. For the sake of this thread, whether you agree or disagree makes no difference. I was reading at length some articles on Rice's progress over the years and by all accounts his best chance for induction will be next year with a week class of first time candidates.
In the paper, they listed Rice's vote totals and percentages over the years, and I am astounded at how little sense this process makes. Rice debuted with roughly 140 votes and since then his vote total has increased by over 200 votes. So question one is, did Rice suddenly improve his on-field performance in the past 13 years that there is new data or results for voters to review? Either you are a HOFer or you're not.
Secondly, Rice's totals from year to year have on one or two occasions gone up or down by as many as 50 votes from year to year. So question two would be, how could someone vote for him one year and not the next? IMO, if you vote for a guy once, you should be forced to vote for him in all future votes (unless some major negative news on that player broke).
Thirdly, even though his vote totals have been going up, apparently there are more voters (maybe more people submitting ballots) that has caused his PERCENTAGE to start going down.
The other one that I heard today was from Jayson Stark of ESPN, who basically outlined that however many years ago Lee Smith had something like twice as many votes as Goose Gossage. Yet in the recent balloting Gossage just missed induction and Smith's totals have dropped and he had a smaller percentage than several years ago. Comparing these two relievers in the voting process, effectively things made almost a 180 degree turn. Again, what conditions have changed that mandates Gossage to shoot up the vote charts and Smith to start listing like a sinking ship?
Since this is mostly rhetorical, I don't really expect an all inclusive answer or explanation that makes any sense, but I find the whole process mystifying.
As many people know, I am an advocate for Jim Rice's induction into the baseball HOF. For the sake of this thread, whether you agree or disagree makes no difference. I was reading at length some articles on Rice's progress over the years and by all accounts his best chance for induction will be next year with a week class of first time candidates.
In the paper, they listed Rice's vote totals and percentages over the years, and I am astounded at how little sense this process makes. Rice debuted with roughly 140 votes and since then his vote total has increased by over 200 votes. So question one is, did Rice suddenly improve his on-field performance in the past 13 years that there is new data or results for voters to review? Either you are a HOFer or you're not.
Secondly, Rice's totals from year to year have on one or two occasions gone up or down by as many as 50 votes from year to year. So question two would be, how could someone vote for him one year and not the next? IMO, if you vote for a guy once, you should be forced to vote for him in all future votes (unless some major negative news on that player broke).
Thirdly, even though his vote totals have been going up, apparently there are more voters (maybe more people submitting ballots) that has caused his PERCENTAGE to start going down.
The other one that I heard today was from Jayson Stark of ESPN, who basically outlined that however many years ago Lee Smith had something like twice as many votes as Goose Gossage. Yet in the recent balloting Gossage just missed induction and Smith's totals have dropped and he had a smaller percentage than several years ago. Comparing these two relievers in the voting process, effectively things made almost a 180 degree turn. Again, what conditions have changed that mandates Gossage to shoot up the vote charts and Smith to start listing like a sinking ship?
Since this is mostly rhetorical, I don't really expect an all inclusive answer or explanation that makes any sense, but I find the whole process mystifying.